Nail-holding attachment for hammers



(No Model.)

A. R. TREAT.

NAIL HOLDING ATTACHMENT 30R HAMMERS. I No. 587,623. I Patented Aug. 3,1897

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

ALBERT R. TREAT, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

NAIL-HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR HAMMERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 587,623, dated A ugust 3, 1897..

Application filed November 20, 1896. Serial No. 612,865. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT R. TREAT, of Los Angeles, in the county of LosAngeles and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Nail-Holding Attachment for Hammers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an attachment to carpenters hammers whereby a nail may be held in position to be inserted in the surface into which it is to be driven and whereby after fixing the nail the attachment may be disconnected from said nail in order that the hammer may be used thereon.

The object of the invention is to provide asimple and economic device that may be expeditiously and conveniently'attached to a hammer-handle in such a manner as not to disturb the balance of said hammer and so that the nail will be held parallel with the longitudinal axis of the hammer-head.

A further object of the invention is to provide a body-casing in which all of the working parts may be placed, thereby avoiding surfaces liable to catch in the workmans clothes, and to so construct the gripping mechanism for the nails that the latter may be quickly and readily released from the former.

Theinvention consists in the novel construction I and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,- in which similar characters of reference inclicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a hammer and handle and a side elevation of the device applied to the handle. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the attachment removed from the handle of the hammer. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the hammer, its handle, and the attachment applied. Fig. 4. is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 4 a of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the clamp and casing.

The main parts of the attachment embrace a clamp A, a body-leasing B, and jaws G. The clamp A is open at one end and its parts are connected by a screw 10 or its equivalent, and the said clamp is adapted to be slid over the handle close up to the shank of the body of the hammer. The opposite end of the clamp is closed, and the material forming the A are made from one piece of metal, the inner end flange 11 being integral with the inner end portion of the outer closed surface 13 of the body-casing, as is shown in Fig. 5 and in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and a longitudinal slot 15 is produced in the forward edge of the said closed surface 13'of the body-casing, as is 4 best shown in Figs. 3 and 5. The outer closed surface 13 of the body-casing may be termed its outer side.

The jaws G, which are two in number, are pivoted by pins 16 upon the outer side 13 of the body-casing, the jaws, however, being within the casing, and these jaws extend over the slot 15 in the casing, as is best shown in Fig. 4. Ordinarily the jaws O are made of metal, which is bent over upon itself to form two parallel members, as shown in Fig. 2, and the forward ends of the jaws are normally held in engagement or closed by means of a spring 17, which has bearing at its ends against the rear-end portions of the jaws, the forward end of the spring being usually between the pivots 16, and the spring may be made V-shaped, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4.

In operation the clamp A is secured upon the handle close to the shank of the hammerbody, the body-casing being located along what may be termed the front edge of the handle and the shank of the hammer-body, so that the body-casing will be immediately beneath the head section of the hammer. The nail to be driven is slipped into the slot 15 in the body-casing and between the jaws O, the head of the nail resting upon the inner faces of the jaws, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The head of the nail will therefore the nail the said attachment will readily leave the nail in position in the said surface, and it may thereupon be quickly and accurately driven by the hammer in the ordinary way.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A nail-h oldin g attachment for hammers, consisting of a clamp, a body-casing secured to the said clamp and provided with a slot in one of its ends to receive a nail, and jaws pivoted in the said casing and extending over the slot therein, the jaws being spring-controlled at their inner ends, as and for the purpose specified.

2. A nail-holding attachment for hammers, consisting of a clamp, a casing attached to the said clamp and extending at right angles therefrom, the said casing having a longitudinal slot in its outer end, and spring-controlled jaws pivoted within the casing, the free ends of the said jaws extending longitudinally over the slot in the casing, as and for the purpose specified.

3. A nail-holding attachment for hammers, consisting of a clamp, a casing attached to the rear end of the said clamp and extending beyond its forward end, the casing being at a right angle to the clamp, the said casing being provided with a slot in its forward end, spring-controlled jaws pivoted within the casing and extending over the slot therein,

and a stop-flange projected from the forward edge of the clamp over the said jaws, as and for the purpose specified.

a. The combination, with a hammer and its handle, of a clamp secured to the said hammer-handle, a casing attached to the clamp at its forward end, which casing extends beneath the head of the hammer along the front edge of the shank of the hammer, the casing being provided with a slot in its forward end, and spring-controlled jaws piv- 

